If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Welcome to CycloneFanatic.com. I notice you haven't taken the time to register yet, now is as good of time as any:)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors announced plans Tuesday to shut four pickup and SUV plants, saying high fuel prices have produced a rapid and permanent change in consumer preferences away from the truck models on which it has depended.
At a news conference in Wilmington, Del., GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner also unveiled plans to produce more fuel efficient vehicles
The plants to be closed include two U.S. facilities - Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wis., along with plants in Canada and Mexico. The plants will close in 2009 and 2010. Each plant has about 2,500 employees.
Wagoner also said GM is looking at possibly selling its Hummer brand, the large SUV based on military vehicles.
He also announced that GM has approved production of the Chevrolet Volt, a so-called plug-in hybrid vehicle that can run about 40 miles without any use of gasoline. That is due in showrooms by the end of 2010. .
The plans were announced ahead of GM's (GM, Fortune 500) annual meeting Tuesday. It follows similar plans unveiled last month by rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), although Ford did not give details of plant closing plans.

Chuck Lidell: I paint my toenails with pink and black polish. Problem is, I get more paint on my toes and on the carpet than on my nails. Any advice?Maria Sharapova: Don't you beat up other guys for a living? I don't know how to answer this.

Re: GM to close 4 truck plants

MoneyNews.com lead story yesterday shows there may be a silver lining to all those steel related import items:

High Oil Killing China Labor AdvantageWhat goes around, comes around. Chinese labor is cheap, but high oil — perversely, the direct result of quick Chinese growth — is now killing the Asian giant’s manufacturing cost advantage. The cost of transporting heavy cargo over long distances will become so expensive it will completely erode China's low-wage economic advantage, says a key analyst. That could provide incentives to produce more goods at home. "Exploding transport costs may soon remove the single most important brake on inflation over the last decade — wage arbitrage with China," CIBC World Markets Chief Economist Jeff Rubin told CNBC. "The cost of moving goods, not the cost of tariffs, is the largest barrier to global trade today." Indeed, oil price rises have already driven up shipping costs so much that Chinese imports are now high-cost and losing market share, a new CIBC research report shows. The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the U. S. eastern seaboard has quadrupled to $8,000 on high crude prices. If oil reaches $200 a barrel it will double again, increasing the impact on entire global trade for goods that carry high freight costs. "If that container is filled with diamonds, it doesn’t matter," Rubin says. "But for mass-manufactured products it means that a lot of those jobs may be coming home." "This is going to cause a major re-think for people who have re-jigged their supply lines to China," Rubin says. "It’s going to turn global cost curves on their head." Freight-sensitive Chinese exports to the U.S. now account for 42 percent of total exports, down from 52 percent in 2004. Rubin estimates that were it not for the dramatic increase in transport costs, growth in Chinese exports to the U.S. since 2004 would have been 35 percent stronger than the actual tally. As additional evidence, Rubin points out that Chinese steel exports to the U.S. dropped by 20 percent during the past year, and U.S. steel production increased 10 percent during the same period. "That’s all about freight costs," Rubin says, adding that the more oil and transport costs rise for Chinese steel exporters, the more North American steel wage rates can grow. "It’s great news for steelworkers, but not so great news if you’re the Federal Reserve Board," Rubin notes. "But if you're a steel buyer, your costs are going up regardless of whether you're sourcing from China or Pittsburgh." Even domestic transport costs are becoming a tough uphill battle — according to YRC Worldwide Chairman and CEO Bill Zollars. About 70 percent of goods moved in the U.S. are moved by truck, and the 800,000 customers Zollars’ company serves include major players like Home Depot and Wal-Mart, which he says gives him a good overall view of the U.S. economy. "It’s interesting that the biggest impact (Washington) thought it could have was yelling at the guys who are making money," Zollars told CNBC. "I’d love to see Congress pick up the ball and start running with it." "We’ve got to start drilling more, and we need more refineries and get serious about alternative fuels and conservation," Zollars says. "Our only saving grace now is a weak dollar holding up imports."

First, are you talking compacts or subcompacts? If it's compacts, you should be discussing the Chevy Cobalt, not the Aveo.

Second, Dodge stopped making the Neon 4 years ago - their compact vehicle is now the Caliber.

Finally, considering a Honda Civic only does 25/36 (link) while a Chevy Cobalt is capable of doing 25/36 (link) and Ford Focus does 24/35 (link), your last statement is quite ridiculous as well. It's not that I'm so totally in love with the Big 3 - it's just come up with a valid argument instead of libelous, unresearched statements...

(your argument does hold for Caliber, however - it only does 24/29 (link))

Last edited by jdoggivjc; 06-03-2008 at 09:30 AM.

Chuck Lidell: I paint my toenails with pink and black polish. Problem is, I get more paint on my toes and on the carpet than on my nails. Any advice?Maria Sharapova: Don't you beat up other guys for a living? I don't know how to answer this.

Re: GM to close 4 truck plants

First, are you talking compacts or subcompacts? If it's compacts, you should be discussing the Chevy Cobalt, not the Aveo.

Second, Dodge stopped making the Neon 4 years ago - their compact vehicle is not the Caliber.

Finally, considering a Honda Civic only does 25/36 (link) while a Chevy Cobalt is capable of doing 25/36 (link) and Ford Focus does 24/35 (link), your last statement is quite ridiculous as well. It's not that I'm so totally in love with the Big 3 - it's just come up with a valid argument instead of libelous, unresearched statements...

(your argument does hold for Caliber, however - it only does 24/29 (link))

I was wrong on the Neon. I guess they only had it for around for 10 years without any major changes.

So what sub-compacts do the Big 3 produce besides the Aveo? Honda has the Fit and Toyota has the Yaris.

As far as "libelous, unresearched statements". You don't have to do a lot of research to see that the Big 3 are far behind when it comes to small cars (both sub compact and compact). I agree that some cars like the Honda Civic should be getting better gas mileage but if you look at the car overall you can see that Honda/Toyota have did a lot better with their small cars than any of the Big 3.

As far as "libelous, unresearched statements". You don't have to do a lot of research to see that the Big 3 are far behind when it comes to small cars (both sub compact and compact). I agree that some cars like the Honda Civic should be getting better gas mileage but if you look at the car overall you can see that Honda/Toyota have did a lot better with their small cars than any of the Big 3.

Holy cow. My 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue with a 215 Hp V-6 averages 27mpg between fill-ups, 30-31 on highway. That car is 2x the size of all those listed.

All content owned by CycloneFanatic.com - All rights reserved 2005-09. By viewing this website you agree to the Terms of Service, Site Rules and Legal Disclaimer. The words, views, images and opinions expressed or provided by users do not reflect the opinions or views of CycloneFanatic.com or Iowa State University. The names, words, symbols, and graphics representing Iowa State University are trademarks and copyrights of the University protected by the trademark and copyright laws of the United States of America and other countries and are used on this web site under license from the University. Original site design, premise & construction by Jeremy Lind.